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Snowfall tops January total from famous Blizzard of '78

Retired school superintendent: “This winter has been colder than in the past. I don’t recall school closing so many times because of cold weather.”

TNS Regional News

Jan 22, 2014

It was just a small snowfall — 1.6 inches at Toledo Express Airport that started late Monday and was done by sunrise Tuesday — but it was enough to break a record in which the notorious Blizzard of 1978 had a starring role.

January, 2014, is now the snowiest month in Toledo’s recorded history.

Added to snow that fell earlier this month, which was highlighted by 9.4 inches on Jan. 1-2 and 13 inches on Jan. 5-6, the most recent snow brought the January total to 30.9 inches, just one-tenth higher than the record 30.8 of January, 1978.

That snow arrived with another icy plunge to single-digit cold — from 30 degrees at sunset Monday to 4 at sunrise Tuesday at Toledo Express, accompanied by brisk winds that made the air feel well below zero to exposed skin.

After a daytime high Tuesday of 10, the National Weather Service predicted lows today around -7 in metro Toledo, which would mark the city’s seventh subzero morning so far this winter. That’s the most below-zero days in one winter locally since the winter of 2008-09, which had 10; there were just three total during the four winters in between.

A wind-chill advisory was posted for Lucas County and counties to the south and east until 11 a.m. today for wind-chill readings expected to dip as low as -20.

Joe Balderas, who hasn’t forgotten the way a warm rainy night 36 years ago turned into “snow drifts 15 to 20 feet tall” the next morning, was taken aback that the 1978 record had fallen.

“I was surprised to hear we’ve had that much snow, and January isn’t even over,” said Mr. Balderas, now 62. “But it’s different; you see the city keeping up with it, and it doesn’t hit you so hard.”

Brian Mitchell, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Cleveland, also observed how much time is left in the month after reporting the overnight snowfall.

“My calendar says it’s the 21st. We still have a ways to go,” he said.

Weather-service forecasters predicted snow showers today through Thursday that could add an inch or two in the Toledo area. They also said that, except for highs in the 20s during the weekend, local temperatures are predicted to go no higher than in the teens through early next week.

Mr. Balderas, garden and building administrator for the Sofia Quintero Art and Cultural Center Inc., prepares much differently for the weather now than he did when the Blizzard of ’78 hit northwest Ohio and southeast Michigan. Back then, he didn’t pay much attention to weather reports nor did he heed friends’ warnings.

“When it hit, it looked like somebody threw a white blanket over all my windows,” recalls Mr. Balderas, who now laughs at his naivete. “Some friends used their snowmobiles to bring me supplies: bread, food, beer; probably more beer than anything else.”

When forecasters warned earlier this month of heavy snow followed by temperatures plunging to the teens to below zero — and wind chills to -40 — the wiser Mr. Balderas joined throngs at Toledo-area supermarkets who stocked up on food, milk, and orange juice to tide them over through the storm. He also beefed up his home’s insulation but skipped the beer; he no longer drinks alcohol.

Toledo Police Department Capt. Brad Weis said this month’s record-breaking snowfall hasn’t affected police operations the way 1978’s weather did because the department is better equipped.

Back then, officers on duty during the height of the storm spent the first night in the police station and stayed on the job the next day until members of the Ohio National Guard brought the next shift in to work. On the third day, Jeep donated several four-wheel drive vehicles to the police department so officers could get around.

“The police department had none, or few, four-wheel-drive vehicles back then,” said Captain Weis, who was a rookie patrolman in 1978. “We have plenty of them now; we’ve moved up in the world.”

Unlike the Blizzard of 1978, which had comparable snowfall, the 13-inch snowstorm Jan. 5 and 6 wasn’t preceded by heavy rain that may have lulled some into complacency about how bad it would get. The latest storm also was accompanied by travel-ban declarations from the sheriffs of many northwest Ohio counties, which kept the number of stranded vehicles to a minimum except in Michigan, where state law does not provide for such bans.

“I can remember standing on the expressway, and it looked like a desert with cars buried to their tops,” Captain Weis recalled of the 1978 blizzard. “The city had come to a standstill for a couple of days.”

While cars couldn’t move, Sonya Harper-Williams said she and about a dozen of her friends were ordered by their parents to take their sleds to a central Toledo supermarket to pick up food and supplies for their families. The absence of cars made the streets quiet, she said, but it was still slow going.

“I remember it taking so long because we had so many clothes on,” recalls Ms. Harper-Williams, now 51 but then a St. Ursula Academy sophomore. “It was only two blocks away, but it seemed to take forever. But it was fun because we were with our friends. The snow was really white, and I remember it being really still outside. It was quite pretty. I miss the innocence of those days.”

Crystal Ellis, a retired superintendent of the Toledo Public Schools, said this year’s snowfall seemed deceiving because it fell in smaller, but more frequent, batches.

”That snow in ’78 just fell out of the sky all at once,” Mr. Ellis said. “This winter has been colder than in the past. I don’t recall school closing so many times because of cold weather.”

The winter of 1977-78 still holds Toledo’s record for total season snowfall: 73.1 inches. But this winter has now reached 42.6 inches, and there’s still a lot of winter to go.

So keep being yourself, my friend and may I add --you are, by far, my favorite blogger ! And you want to know why ? Because, you are not afraid what so ever to simply be your self and that to me is the mark of a great person.

P.S. I am sorry Brock, that some very small minded person who hates me. Picks on you, because we are friends

Contango

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 5:37pm

Re: "some very small minded person who hates me,"

"Illegitimi non carborundum"

Cliff Cannon

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 6:42pm

""Illegitimi non carborundum" Amen my friend. Thank-you for caring

Brock Lee

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 8:01pm

no prob frend

rickross2

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 10:56pm

* Friend

rickross2

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 10:59pm

I thought it was pretty funny. I don't recall ever calling you out though on anything there Cliff Cannon. I've been busting Brock Lees balls on here for a couple years now. Pretty sure I went to high school with him, don't get so bent of shape and assume YOU had anything to do with my comment. I'm just a prick by nature

Cliff Cannon

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 6:11am

@ rickross2 : "I'm just a prick by nature " Congratulations. Since society is a reflecting mirror of our attiude to each of us. May, we assume a lot of unhappy moments fill your day ? ( Hopefully, I am wrong for your sake )

rickross2

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 6:21am

Lol.....not the case good sir. Glad you're concerned about me though. Have a good day, I'll leave B.L.R. Alone, for now :-)

Cliff Cannon

Fri, 01/24/2014 - 6:34am

Cool. You have a great day as well

Cliff Cannon

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 6:45am

@ Brock Lee : I think global warming this year is going to come in either April or May

rickross2

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 8:46am

See, now you know I'm commenting to your comment.

Contango

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 7:10am

Re: "Blizzard of 1978"

Lousy memories of that one!

@ CC:

Sadly, I believe that there was a female FF employee who perished from exposure while trying to get to work.

Her car got stuck and she tried to make it to a farm house wearing only a light jacket.

(I learned my lesson YRS. AGO. Throw some warm stuff in the back seat, even if you're only going out for a qt. of milk.)

Cliff Cannon

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 4:23pm

@ Contango : Yes, a young lady from F.F. did die in the Blizzard of '78. I didn't know her, nor can I remember her name. However, I do remember she had small children though.

Here's hoping from that very sad tragedy that a whole lot of people learned ,as you did to be prepared for the season that takes no prisoners----- winter

starryeyes83

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 8:09am

Well, at least this time, there aren't snow drifts up to rooftops and telephone poles.

It is normal for northern Ohio to have a week of subzero highs and we have not had many of those the last few years.
Before the blizzard of 78 the ground had completely thawed out. the day before the temps were in the 60s.

Windy

Thu, 01/23/2014 - 5:10pm

And THIS winter we're getting ALL of the sub-zero weeks that we've missed during the past few winters!